Absent Olympians

17 Mar 14

Russia’s best skaters sitting out world championships

(Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

By Nancy Armour

The Russian Figure Skating Federation confirmed Monday that Adelina Sotnikova, who won the women’s gold in Sochi, and pairs champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, are skipping next week’s world championships in Japan.

This hardly comes as a surprise. There’s a long history of the Olympic champions skipping that year’s worlds – ice dance gold medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White have already said they’re not competing – and the Russians have been on a whirlwind tour since Sochi.

Sotnikova will be replaced by Anna Pogorilaya, who won the Cup of China. Volosozhar and Trankov will be replaced by Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov.

“Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Gabby Douglas took part in her first workout with coach Liang Chow, the renowned leader of Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute, for the first time since last August. Douglas, who twice won gold at the London Games, had moved to California to be closer to family. She went through drills Monday with Chow.”